


The Best

by TiffanyF



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M, crack!fic, ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-06
Updated: 2013-02-06
Packaged: 2017-11-28 09:19:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/672778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiffanyF/pseuds/TiffanyF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yagyuu's parents want him to be the best. The stress gets to him. Don't own, don't claim. No money made.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best

One thing that his parents had drilled into him since he was young was that he had to be the best at anything he did. It didn’t matter if it was school or sports, but he had to be the best at it. Over the years as he grew, he started to realize that he didn’t even have to think about it anymore, he just automatically sized up the competition and then surpassed them. He was the top of his class ever year. He was the best on the golf team. But it drove him crazy that he wasn’t the most power, best player on the tennis team. It didn’t take him long to realize that his goal there should be his doubles partner first and then the three demons who led the team. So he appealed to Niou’s natural Petenshi instincts and suggested the switch. And then, once he knew everything there was to know about Niou, he decided to see how well he could fool the rest of the world. So he called Niou and invited him for dinner and a sleep over, and drugged him, tying him to the bed the next morning. Then he dressed as Niou, put on his wig and left the house for practice.

Yukimura was always the first at the courts in the morning and had usually warmed up by the time the rest of the regulars arrived. He watched them all come in, Sanada second, followed by Yanagi and Yagyuu, Jackal, Marui, Niou and finally Akaya running to make sure he wasn’t officially late and risking a slap from Sanada. Yukimura liked to pretend he was sweet and gentle and, to children and animals, he was. He was tender to his plants, helping them to grow and took a sense of calm from them. But to humans, other tennis players, he was much deeper. And sadistic. His team knew not to cross him because he would make a slap from Sanada and hundreds of laps look like a vacation in Hawaii. It was always fun to watch other players from other teams realize this and to watch the expressions on their faces as the power flowed over them and rendered them helpless.

“Niou, where is Yagyuu?” Yukimura asked from by the benches where he was watching the team warm-up. 

“He’s sick, buchou,” Yagyuu as Niou replied. “His dad wants to keep him home for a day or two and then he’ll be back. He said he was going to call you.”

“He hasn’t,” Yukimura said.

“Maybe he’s asleep. You know Yagyuu,” Niou said. “He’ll get in touch with you as soon as he can.”

Yukimura nodded and shifted his attention to the others. “Pairings,” he said. “Sanada, you play Akaya. Marui against Jackal. Niou, you’ll play Yanagi. Get moving.”

The blue-haired buchou watched as his team scrambled and smiled to himself. He enjoyed making his team suffer and, if he was right, there would be plenty of things to make them suffer for that afternoon. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned to watch the games. Yes, it would be a good day after all. Except for one, small thing that worried him. He’d have to make a call when practice was done.  
*********************

At lunch Yukimura sat by himself and watched his team again, smiling softly. Yanagi was the only one who noticed the smile and shivered a little, drawing an odd look from Sanada. “Seiichi is plotting,” Yanagi whispered.

“Tarundoru,” Sanada replied. 

“Now, Genichiro, you don’t know what he’s plotting this time,” Yanagi said. “It could be something good.” He paused for a moment. “No, there’s only a one percent chance of that. I think something has upset him and he’s planning to take it out on the team again.”

“I wish he wouldn’t do that.”

“As do I, but do you want to be the one to tell him?”

“No.” Sanada pulled his hat down over his eyes. 

“Exactly. I think we’ll just have to suffer through it with the rest of the team.” Yanagi sighed. “But I do wish I knew what had upset him this time. Morning practice was flawless.”

Sanada sighed. “You know how he is about forms.”

“True, and if one of us put a foot out of place, it would be enough to upset him. Although he’s usually a little more prompt about telling us if our forms are horrible.” Yanagi paused for a long sip of water. “We’ll find out when he explodes.”

“I wish he’d explode like a normal person though,” Sanada said.

“One thing Seiichi will never be is normal,” Yanagi commented. “Do you think we should warn the others?”

“No, it’ll only make Yukimura even more upset.”

“We’ll have to keep an eye on things though.”

“When don’t we?”

“How true.”  
**********************

The day had been perfect for Yagyuu. No one had even suspected that he wasn’t actually Niou. To be able to take over another’s life so completely was a rush and Yagyuu enjoyed it. And what made it even more perfect was that he didn’t have the real Niou around impersonating him. Yagyuu always felt like Niou watched him too closely when they were switched, like he was waiting for him to slip up and make a mistake just so he could correct him. Yagyuu knew that he was the perfect Niou and, while he didn’t want to be him every day, it was a relief to shed the expectations of everyone around him and just be the class jerk for a day. People gave him a wide berth and ignored him. It was heaven, and Yagyuu thought he could easily get addicted to it.

Afternoon practice was harder than anyone had been expecting and the team was left collapsed on the court at the end, gasping for air as they struggled to get to their feet. Yukimura stood from the bench he’d been sitting on and crossed his arms over his chest. “Everyone, your forms are horrible,” he snapped. “Fifteen laps and shower. I want to see improvement tomorrow morning, or you’ll have to wear ankle weights for a week.”

The regulars stood with groans and took off at a slow jog, pacing themselves for the laps while Yukimura went to the locker room. He showered and changed back into his school uniform and smiled to himself. He was going to enjoy this. “Niou, stay behind, please,” he said when the regulars had joined him. “I need to speak with you.”

“Sure,” Niou agreed with a grin. 

Yukimura settled onto the small sofa to wait, a book open in his lap. He was working his way through Sherlock Holmes in English to get the special nuances that were lost in translation and, while he was enjoying it, he was also finding it quite a challenge. But, if there was one thing he loved, it was a challenge.

Niou flopped down next to him and twirled his still damp rat tail. “So, what’s up, Yukimura?” he asked with a smirk.

“You didn’t forget, did you, Niou?” Yukimura asked. He marked his place carefully and turned so he was facing the other boy.

“Forget what, Yukimura?”

“Oh, Masaharu, how could you?” Yukimura asked. “And you promised, too.”

Yagyuu was trying not to panic. Since when did Yukimura call Niou by his first name? What had Niou promised to do that day, and why hadn’t he mentioned anything to Yagyuu about it? “I’m sorry, Yukimura,” he said. “I’ve been concerned about a new illusion and everything else kinda fell to the side.”

Yukimura reached over and cupped Niou’s cheek softly. “Masaharu,” he whispered, “you shouldn’t lie.”

“I’m not lying,” Niou said. But before he could say anything else, Yukimura’s lips covered his in a soft kiss. Yagyuu froze. He’d had no idea Niou and Yukimura were dating. He pulled back and fell off the sofa.

“You are an extremely bad Niou, Yagyuu,” Yukimura said sharply. “And if you do not tell me where my Petenshi is, you will wish you had never been born.”

“How did you know?” Yagyuu asked pulling off his wig. “Everyone else was fooled.”

“I am not everyone else, Yagyuu. I knew as soon as you came on the court this morning,” Yukimura said. “Now answer my question before I get mad.”

“Niou-kun is drugged and secure at my house,” Yagyuu said.

“What do you mean?”

“I wanted to see how well I could be Niou-kun without him around to spoil anything,” Yagyuu said, not aware of how deeply he was digging himself into a hole. “I assure you that he’s fine, the dose was low and he’ll be waking up soon.”

Yukimura’s blue eyes narrowed. “We are going to your house now and if I find that Masaharu is injured in any way, you will pay dearly for it.”

“I am sorry for my action, Yukimura-kun.”

“No, you’re not. And if you ever lie to me again or hurt one of your team mates, it will be the last thing you ever do. Do you understand me, Yagyuu?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Get your stuff.”  
*********************

Niou was not happy when he woke up tied to Yagyuu’s bed so securely that he couldn’t get lose. His head ached fiercely and he had to go to the bathroom. If it wasn’t for the fact that he’d have to lie in it, he was tempted to just piss in Yagyuu’s bed as punishment for what he’d done. But Niou was also the Petenshi and he would find another, more subtle way to make his doubles partner pay.

“Masaharu.”

“Seiichi, what are you doing here?” Niou looked over towards the door. “And can you get me out of here?”

“Do it, Yagyuu.”

Yagyuu walked in and started to undo the knots holding Niou to the bed. Niou pushed him away roughly and hurried towards the door. “I’d better see a pain killer when I get back,” he said.

Yukimura glared at Yagyuu again. “Remember what I said, Yagyuu?” he hissed. 

“It’s just a headache from the drug I gave him,” Yagyuu said. He tossed some aspirin onto the bed. “That’ll cure it without any problems.”

Niou stalked back in, went right to Yukimura’s tennis bag and pulled out one of the water bottles. Yukimura handed him the pain killers and cupped his cheek. “Are you okay, Petenshi?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Niou replied. “Just as soon as I’m out of here.”

“Come to my place and I’ll take care of you,” Yukimura said. 

“Okay.” Niou turned a glare on Yagyuu. “You blew it, Yagyuu,” he hissed. “Big time.”

Yagyuu sighed. “I am sorry, Niou-kun, but it was something that had to be done.”

“No, it didn’t,” Niou said. “Watch your back, Yagyuu.”

“I believe I know all your tricks, Niou-kun.”

“Then just keep believing that,” Niou said. He grabbed his bag and stalked out, followed by Yukimura. Yagyuu looked at his bed for a long moment and then sat on it. He wished the others would understand where he was coming from.  
***********************

At practice the next morning Niou ignored Yagyuu so completely that even Yanagi was impressed. He wasn’t sure what had happened between the number one doubles pair, but hoped it wouldn’t have an effect on their play. That would just piss Yukimura off more and make life miserable for the whole team.

“Matches,” Yukimura said. “Marui and Jackal against Sanada and Yanagi. Akaya, will you judge that match, please?”

Akaya grinned and nodded, happy at being given an important task. He really wanted to play, but watching two of the demons was almost as good. It would give him a chance to watch for weaknesses he could use against them.

“Yagyuu, you will play Niou,” Yukimura continued.

Niou snorted, picked up his racket and stalked to the court they would be playing on. Yagyuu sighed and followed. “Do you want to serve, Niou-kun?” he asked.

“No.”

Yagyuu bit back another sigh and moved to the service line. He wondered how long his doubles partner was going to stay mad at him. They had a match coming up that they would have to be in top shape for if they were going to win, and having Niou mad at him made it impossible to communicate on or off the court.

He tried not to panic when he suddenly lost his vision. Yagyuu had forgotten about Yukimura sitting in the ref chair by the court. A tennis ball slammed into his ribs and he fell to the ground. 

“Get up, Yagyuu,” Yukimura said coldly. “Or are you too weak to play singles?”

“Of course not, Yukimura-kun,” Yagyuu replied. He struggled to his feet, never having experienced Yukimura’s powers first hand before. He managed to hit the ball on his third try and bit back a cry when it hit his leg.

Yanagi glanced at Sanada. “Well, I guess we know who pissed him off,” he said.

“But Yagyuu wasn’t even here yesterday.”

“Yeah, he was, as Niou,” Yanagi said. “And there is a high possibility that it was against Niou’s wishes, as Yukimura seems to be helping Niou take revenge in a most unPetenshi-like way.”

“Then I would feel sorry for Yagyuu, but he brought it on himself.” Sanada returned a ball directly in front of Marui that didn’t bounce and slid between his legs towards the rear of the court. “Do you think we should help?”

“Do you really want to make either of them madder than they already are?”

“Good point.” Sanada winced as Yagyuu fell down for the third time. “But I think we should draw the line at permanent damage.”

Yanagi nodded. “That will be in a game and a half for them,” he said. “I’ll watch for that, if you take care of Marui and Jackal.”

“Of course.”

Yukimura smiled. He knew his best friends were going to step in when they thought things had gone far enough. But Yagyuu would have learned an important lesson; Yukimura was the top of Rikkai and Niou was second. No one would ever be able to surpass them. And he still had to worry about what pranks Niou would pull on him. Life would be very interesting for a while.


End file.
